Contributors

A vacation from technology

So I just returned from vacation, and there was something…different… about the hotel room. There was there was no internet, TV, or cell phone service. In order to use the internet or make a phone call, I had to walk all the way to the main lounge (a good 5 minute walk from my room). That meant I only checked emails twice, maybe three times a day. Did I miss anything important? Nope. Did I have so much email to take care of I had to spend hours going through my inbox? Nope. In fact, I was surprised how little email accumulated and the stuff that I would throw away anyways was more efficiently dealt with in one sitting rather than constantly checking and deleting. Although I am taking the Health IT elective, I find it ironic that I’m starting this week with a new resolution to check my email less frequently (3x/day). I even noticed during the times I checked my email my heart rate would go up and I could feel my shoulders tensing. Is that what happens every time? Why put myself through all that unnecessary stress multiple times in my day? Three times seems fair enough! I invite you to take a moment to reflect on how often you check your email and how much time that it takes for you do to it? Many of us complain that they don’t have enough time to exercise, cook, eat healthy, etc., so perhaps this could help us find a few more minutes each day to do something to make our lives healthier?

And what do you know? I’ve even found a study that supports just what I suspected 😉 Now I’m not saying it’s the most robust study with just 14 people, but it’s definitely thought provoking.